|TOP|Evangelical Alliance head, Rev Joel Edwards has received an Honorary Doctorate in Divinity from the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology (CGST) at Church of the Rock in Kingston, Jamaica.

Rev Edwards, who is the General Director of the Evangelical Alliance UK was presented with the award on 23 June by the President of the CGST, Dr Dieumeme Noelliste.

The award has been given in recognition of his work as a strategic evangelical leader and member of the Jamaican Diaspora.

This new honour follows the Jamaican Prime Minister's Medal of Appreciation for Services which Rev Edwards received in 2003.

|AD|In giving his acceptance speech, Rev Edwards, who is originally from Jamaica, said, “I am grateful for the honour and commendation which this award has bestowed upon me. This has come as an encouragement to my small efforts in Jamaica.”

The Doctorate comes after four years of strategic involvement among many key Jamaican church leaders and politicians including Bishop Peter Morgan, an influential leader of the charismatic movement; Bishop Herro Blair, Political Ombudsman; and the Ministers for Information and Security.

Dr Edwards preached at the ceremony, and was commended for his passion to transform the society into one that is in line with the college’s ethos.

Rev Dr Edwards concluded, “I have been encouraged by the degree to which the idea of churches and organisations working together for transformation has become a regular theme in Jamaica. And I am excited by the possibility of maintaining and developing ongoing working relationships with strategic leaders committed to the transformation of Jamaica.”